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What does it say on the plate that is fixed permanently onto the body of the vehicle. A fixed plated over rides any sticker which can easily be removed. The previous owner may have downplated it so that they could drive the vehicle on a B licence.

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It seems that there is something weird with the weights on your vehicle which is why I suspect it may have been downplated. At 70 don't they downgrade your licence unless you specifically ask them not to which could be an issue. Can't remember what happens but next year I reach that milestone and would want to keep my B+E.

It seems that there is something weird with the weights on your vehicle which is why I suspect it may have been downplated. At 70 don't they downgrade your licence unless you specifically ask them not to which could be an issue. Can't remember what happens but next year I reach that milestone and would want to keep my B+E.

Hi

I'm thinking other way round now. My son who is MOT tester says they now use stick on weight plates.

Probably on there now is original plate when made as chassis cab and supplied to Mobilvette then put on body. After Motorhome built they registered it with authorities as now being 3860kg but did not put on new weight plate. But this is only a theory, so need to look at getting proper plate.

At 70 you need to fill in medical form D4 to drive over 3500 kgs. There are other people other than your doctor's as they can charge lots of money. Just look up HGV medical they do the over 70 as well. Cost me £65 last year to keep my HGV licence, don't know why, as don't work anymore.

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I'm thinking other way round now. My son who is MOT tester says they now use stick on weight plates.

Probably on there now is original plate when made as chassis cab and supplied to Mobilvette then put on body. After Motorhome built they registered it with authorities as now being 3860kg but did not put on new weight plate. But this is only a theory, so need to look at getting proper plate.

At 70 you need to fill in medical form D4 to drive over 3500 kgs. There are other people other than your doctor's as they can charge lots of money. Just look up HGV medical they do the over 70 as well. Cost me £65 last year to keep my HGV licence, don't know why, as don't work anymore.

I will reach 70 in 3 years time flying by when you get old.

Happy Caravanning

Monty

Thanks as unlikely to drive vehicle over 3500kg however the train weight of our combination unit is about 4850kgs.

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I have checked and can still retain my B+E driving licence without having to do a test and can tow our combination. Medical only applies if I want to keep my C1 category licence.

That is correct, you retain the B + E even without a medical, other than self certification to a number of specific questions.

The post 70 limit unless you do otherwise allows you to drive a vehicle up to 3500 kgs, and if you previously had B + E tow whatever that can vehicle can tow. So us caravanners have no real issue in ageing, however MHers may well want to drive a vehicle over 3500 kgs, there post 70 they need to pass the medical to retain the appropriate licence.

The OPs MH might well be a vehicle capable of being rated at 3850 kgs, but I suspect a previous owner had to have it downplated to 3500 kgs because they for whatever reason had not the C1 licence. This is very common, but often puts immense challenges on the owner keeping within that 3500 kgs in a vehicle designed for 350 kgs more. Three hundred and fifty off the originally intended payload is a huge amount requiring a lot of discipline and a light weight partner for those lucky enough to travel with company, as they are "payload".

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Unless I am mistaken, the chassis maker's plate is what everything will be judged by during any roadside check.

The V5 could be useful "evidence" in getting it replated.

Could be interesting what the insurers think they are insuring, particularly so if facing a claim and running over the plated weight?

With few exceptions I believe the vehicle chassis maker is the only one able to issue a new chassis plate, so Renault could still be the supplier of the new plate, even post the chassis leaving their factory. So the HM maker could have got the new plate to market it as a 3500 kg MH, or a previous owner could have ordered it themselves.

But presently IMO from the figures provided you are running just a 3500 kgs MH, ( with a 2000 kgs towing limit), albeit one that could be up rated back to 3850 kgs.

What were you sold by the dealer, that could be your route to getting it back to 3850 kgs if that is what they sold.

As of the plates I purchased a brand new Caravan from Grantham Caravans in September it was a dealer special which was a upgraded special with a lot more in it. It had the original Swift manufacturers plate by bottom of door, but in front gas bottle locker was another plate with higher max weight. So 2 plates.

The van was a upgraded Swift Major 4SB, called Siena.

My Motorhome started life as Demonstrators loaned to Magazines to be road tested and reviewed no mention of 3500kg.

Been in touch with Marquis Devon not much help there just saying it 3850kg. Look for plate should be there somewhere.

Also messaged Mobilvette probably get no reply from them.

Has anyone had there Motorhome down plated if so does it show the lower weight in log book. Also was the class changed to pay the extra road tax. I can't believe if vehicle not Private HGV the authorities would let you get away with paying less.

Still think second plate was not attached or hidden somewhere.

If it said in log book 3500kg I would believe it had been down graded.

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My first car was a Ford Zephyr MK2 followed by a Cortina MK2. Also had a Ford Anglia and Ford Corsair the latter was just a more luxurious version of the Cortina except that it had column shift plus a couple of American Fords with V8 engines. We leased a Mondeo in 2010 that had an automatic box. The automatic box or Powershift is without doubt the worst automatic box I had ever encountered. Eventually Ford took back the car and gave us a full refund less about one instalment. No more Fords since. Otherwise the Mondeo had all the toys you needed to make life comfortable although seats were not that great for comfort on a long trip.

Yes a sad fact . my last three cars were mondeos .i loved the last one a 2.2 TDCI it had a slot for 6 cds which I loved . the one before was a Ghia estate built in sat nav. and the one before just basic . All brilliant tow cars. I have changed to a Kuga automatic . It is no where near as nice as my mondeo . The boot is small I’m not happy with it at all . I just keep comparing it . But it does tow very well. I just have to get used to it I suppose unles can find a 3 year old top of the range one . The only one I saw last year was over 20K and bright red I couldn’t afford that and couldn’t have lived with the colour .